A Good Time To Remember Kareem Khan, And Why Colin Powell Mentioned Him

Yashwanth Manjunath recently wrote here about Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, a Muslim-American soldier killed in the Iraq war. We need to keep reminding those who bash Islam how Muslims have died for this country, how especially poignant it is that after 9/11, and in light of our current national debate, they have spilled blood on behalf of the United States. When Colin Powell brought Kahn into the national consciousness, he said lots of other things, too that are worth remembering. He used the appearance (below) on “Meet the Press” to explain why he supported Barack Obama for president.

Powell: [Obama is] a Christian; has always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, “What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?” The answer’s “No, that’s not America.” Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim American kid believing that he or she could be President?

… one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery. And she had her head on the headstone of her son’s grave… He was twenty years old. And then at the very top of the headstone… it had a crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan. And he was an American. He was born in New Jersey, he was fourteen years old at the time of 9/11 and he waited until he could go serve his country and he gave his life.